the pressure is on in washington to agree on a plan. only then might the applause on wall street be a little more genuine. >> with the clock ticking ever more loudly in washington, let's bring in our correspondent. first off, are the prospects of an agreement as dim as we are hearing, or could there be a last-minute deal? then of course this could happen, but i think it is quite unlikely. there is an increased pessimism that a deal can be achieved in washington, d.c. from my perspective, i think washington moves too slowly. tax rates will go for all americans, and cuts will go into effect by the end of this year, and we will see no more unemployment benefits for about 2 million americans. >> there are some technicalities here. what are the government's contingency plans? for example, how will it go about paying bills if no deal is reached? >> a couple of bills they will just not be able to pay. there are emergency measures taken to keep the government operating for several more weeks by the treasury secretary, but they are only kicking